This page intended to be a reference for those who attended the VICS 2005 conference, and for anyone interested in the workings of the following referenced material.
Click on any of the following subjects for more information:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| USPS Interface |
The interface to the Post Office is done using xml api's, whereby we send address, box and method of shipping (i.e. priority, express, first class) information to a USPS system and we receive back rate information. Unlike the United Parcel Service interface you do not need to set up or maintain rate tables. To use the USPS interface, the following items must be completed: 1. A contact must be made with the USPS so that all the necessary paperwork can be completed. 2. Your invoice and picking ticket programs must be modified so that information is sent and received back from the USPS during the picking and invoicing processes. 3. The USPS control record must be completed. 4. Ship vias must be set up for the different classes of sending packages (i.e. first class, priority, express) 5. The location maintenance file must be filled in with the permit number and the origin post office facility. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Processing USPS Orders |
Because of the strict standards of the USPS, during the picking process the ship to information (name, address, city, state, zip) is sent to the USPS for address cleansing using the address validate API. If the address fails you will receive a message that the address failed and a file will be created in the /tmp directory called usps_error.XXXX. This file will help determine why the address was rejected. Optionally, the picking ticket program can be modified so that if the address fails the picking ticket program can automatically switch the ship via to UPS. During the invoicing process the ship to information, plus the weight, and number of boxes is sent to the USPS and a shipping label is created. Currently the label must be printed on a laser printer, as the USPS does not have a format for eltron printers. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| TAD (Temporary Address) |
Because of the limitation in the alternate address file to hold only 255 alternate addresses; a temporary address file is now available. To use the temporary address file, your invoice and picking ticket programs must be modified to look for information in the temporary address file. To use the temporary address file in Order Entry, with the cursor in the Ship To (or Bill to field), press F6. A window will display so that the TAD information can be entered. |
| TAD Maintenance |
Enter the Company name, Address 1/Address 2, Country, City, Zip code, State, & Residential status. Then, under 'Both Bill/Ship', if you select "Y" a letter "t" will appear next to the Bill to customer. Click TAD's Bill / Ship for an example. Also, the temporary address maintenance program is found on the Order Entry Shipping menu. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Integrator FTP Options |
Many mills are now accepting the POS file and HOB information via FTP. To set up an FTP process you need to open the integrator consol and create an FTP process. |
Send File Path: Receive File Path: Archive File Path: Log File Path and name: Host for sending files: User id for sending files: Password for sending files: Remote path for sending files: ASCII file extensions: Host for receiving files: User id for receiving files: Password for receiving files: Remote path for receiving files: Output Logging: Output file name: Number of Backups: Execution Schedule: |
<-- Enter the directory where the files to be sent reside. <-- Enter the directory on the FTP site where the files are to be placed. <-- Once a file is sent, you have the option of having the Integrator move the file to a "done" directory. Enter the path name of the archive file path. <-- When files are sent via FTP, you can have the system record all information about the success or failure of sending the file. <-- Enter the IP address where the information will be sent. <-- Enter the user id for logging onto the system. <-- Enter the password. <-- Enter the path name where the files will be placed. <-- Enter the file extension names of the files that will be sent. <-- If you will be receiving information, enter the IP address of the machine to get the files from. <-- Enter the user id. <-- Enter the password. <-- Enter the path name where the files are to be picked up from. <-- To receive the most information about the FTP process, set the Output level to debug. If you are satisfied that the process is running smoothly, you may change the output level to none. <-- Enter the name of the file where all debug information will be sent. <-- Enter the number of backup files to maintain on your system. To receive the most information for debugging purposes, check all the check boxes. <-- For interfacing with HOB, set the execution schedule every 10 minutes. If you will send only 1 file per day, then you may set up a specific time to send the file. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
Inventory Location Maintenace File IN main menu, Sys Man, Set Up Sys, Loc Main. |
In the inventory location file you will need to enter your permit number and the post office facility where you will be sending the packages from. |
Select Manifest/Carrier Data from the Processing Options menu. You will be asked to choose a carrier. Your options are: (U) - UPS, (G) - Post Office, (F) - FedEx, (C) - California Overnight, or (O) - Other. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| USPS Shipper Info |
Permit #: DUNS#: Version: Manifest Sequence Number: Origin Post Office: Origin Zip: BMC Service Area Zips: |
<-- Enter the USPS permit number. The permit number is printed on the daily USPS manifest. <-- Enter your Dun and Bradstreet number. <-- Enter version 8.7 <-- The manifest sequence number is printed on the daily USPS manifest and is incremented each time you print a USPS manifest. <-- Enter the town name from where the packages will be sent. <-- Enter the origin zip code. <-- BMC Bulk Mail center service area zip codes designate Post Office facilities were parcel post packages are processed. Packages that originate and destinate in the same BMC Service Area have a reduced fee. The BMC Service Area Zip codes are found in the postal service publications. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
Ship Via Maintenance IN main menu, Sys Man, Prod/Ship Set Up, Ship Via Tables. |
The ship via maintenance screen has several new fields required for the USPS interface. The following fields need to be filled in: |
|
|---|---|
Manifest: Type: Label Secs: Web Secs: |
<-- The following types of manifesting systems are: (U) Ups, (O) - Other, (F) - Fedex and (G) - USPS. <-- The type designates the method of shipping via the USPS. The following choices are available: (1) - First Class Mail, (P) - Priority Mail, (E) - Express Mail and (D) - Parcel Post. <-- When an order is invoiced with a USPS ship via, the address, weight and number of boxes is sent via XML to the Post Office. We receive back from the USPS a shipping label. In this field enter the number of seconds you wish to wait to receive the information back from the USPS (10 seconds is probably sufficient). <-- Prior to invoicing the order, the address information is sent to the USPS to verify that the address is a valid shipping address. Enter the number of seconds to wait to receive back the information from the USPS. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Priority & 1st Class Mail |
International: Rate/Fee Code: Default Package Size: |
<-- Enter "N" in this field. <-- Select "1P" for Priority Mail, or "1" for First Class Mail. <-- Enter the default package size. The following choices are available: (E) - Envelope, (R) - Regular, (L) - Large (balloon, equivalent to oversize by UPS). (F) - Small Flat Rate Box or (X) - Large Flat Rate Box. The default package size can be changed in order entry by pressing the F2 key. For First Class mail the default package size is an (E) - envelope. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Parcel Post |
International: PP Inter BMC Non-machinable: PP Intra Non-machinable: PP Inter-Machinable: PP Intra-Machinable: Default Package Size: |
<-- Enter "N" for international service <-- Enter "BN" for Inter-BMC non-machinable packages. <-- Enter "IN" for Intra-BMC non-machinable. <-- Enter "BR" for Inter BMC Machinable. <-- Enter "IM" for Intra BMC Machinable. <-- Enter the default package size. The choices are: (R ) - Regular, (L) - Large and (O) - Oversize. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| USPS Control Record |
The USPS Control record contains default surcharges for parcel post non-machinable packages and maximum weight values. |
Balloon Weight for Parcel Post: Maximum Machinable Weight: Intra non-machinable surcharge: Inter non-machinable surcharge: Maximum COD Amount: Intra/Inter Non-machinable tables: User id for Web: Password: HostName: Last Piece id: Wait time for Labels: Wait time other Web API's: |
<-- Enter the balloon weight for parcel post packages (15 lbs) <-- Enter the maximum machinable weight (35 lbs) <-- Enter the surcharge for intra non-machineable packages (currently 1.35) <-- Enter the surcharge for inter non-machinable packages (currently 2.75) <-- Enter the maximum COD amount. <-- Enter the ship via table for intra and inter non-machinable rates. <-- Enter the user id assigned to log onto the USPS site. <-- Enter the password <-- Enter the host name of the USPS web site (ShippingAPIs.com) <-- This field contains the piece id number. <-- Enter the maximum time to wait to receive labels. <-- Enter the maximum time to wait for the other API's. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| UPS ADF Format |
UPS may now require you to send tracking numbers prior to your end of day process so that they will have the 1Z tracking numbers in their system, prior to sending them the PLD file at the end of the day. Generally, this process will be run from a cron job and the information sent automatically by the Integrator, but it can be run manually from the OE Shipping Menu. |
Date to appear on manifest: Location to print: |
<-- Enter the system date. <-- Enter the location number. |
To set this up as a cron job, you would add the following to your cron file: The "Minute hour day of month month weekday" script - Here's an example: 55 9-20 * * 1-5 dbshell -a OE -s 1 -c 1 useridrun oeradf 13~1 Broken down: |
|
"55": "9-20": "1-5": "-a": "-s": "-c": "Userid": "13~1": |
<-- Process will be run at 55 minutes past the hour. <-- Military time for "9am - 8pm". <-- Monday through Friday. <-- Defines the application id (OE, AP, AR, etc). <-- Defines the system number (generally system 1). <-- Defines the company number (generally company 1). <-- This must be a user id that does not require a carriage return line feed after an error message. <-- Defines the printer number (13) and the location (1). |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Emailing Customer Invoices & Statements |
To help save postage costs you can optionally email statements and invoices to your customers. For both of these options, it is necessary to modify your custom invoice and statement programs. Statements - Statements are sent as an attachment on an email with the following text: Dear Contact Name: The attached document is your monthly statement. Please remit payment to: Your company Your company address Your company phone This message was sent to you by an automated e-mail system. tmpstmt__1.txt Invoices - Invoices are sent with the following text: Dear Contact Name: Thank you for shopping at: Your company Your company address Your company phone Your order number 1-1-99999 has been invoiced: #1-1234 on 11/07/05 in the amount of $45.25. Please keep this number handy for future reference. If you have any questions regarding your order, please contact Customer Service at: your phone number. Your order summary follows: The order will ship from the AZ location via UPS Ground; Boxes: 2 Weight: 5 Line Items: 10 To track your packages click on the link below: http://www.ups.com/WebTracking/track?loc=en_US Billing Information: Customer billing name and address Shipping Information: Ship to name and address Order Summary: Gross to Ship: 16.25 Shipping: 5.00 Invoice Total: 21.25 Terms: COD Company Check Line items ordered: H-5180-BK Hanes 50/50 black t-shirt 1/m Please remit to: Your company name and address |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| WEB data |
In order to send email statements or invoices, you need to set up the web data screen with an email address. From customer maintenance choose WEB data. |
EZid number: EZid numbers 1-10 are reserved for setting up email addresses for non-web page users. You will enter an email address in field #1 and then the following printing options are available. Printing Options: Y - Email only, N - Don't email, B - Both Print/Email. You can set up multiple users to receive statements and/or invoices. The email address must be active. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| 3rd Party Billing |
Third Party billing from UPS is available. In order to use Third Party Billing, you must set up new ship via's for each type of service (2nd day, next day, ground, etc) and enter the customer's UPS account number on the customer record. |
In order for the system to determine the zone from the customer's zip code, you must enter a freight table in the 1. Freight field. This table needs to be set up with all dollar amounts set to 0.0 so that the customer will not be charged a freight charge. Only non-COD orders may be sent Third Party. The shipment charge type must be set up as TPB (Third Party Billing). On the customer's record it is necessary to set up the customer's billing address for UPS and their shipper number. From the customer ALT W screen, choose option B - UPS Billing from the ALT M menu. |
UPS Acct for 3rd Party: Enter the customer's UPS account number. Alt Addr for UPS Billing: If the customer's billing address in your system is NOT the same address for their UPS billing, then you must set up an alternate address (ALT A) with the customers UPS billing address and fill in the alternate address record number in this field. Note: the order entry system will not allow you to enter an order choosing a ship via of Third Party Billing without the customer's UPS number filled in in this screen. When the manifest is processed each evening, Third Party billing orders will be listed on the manifest but you will not be charged for these orders. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Telemarketing email options |
To send an email to your accounts advising them of special offers, you may select a list of names in Telemarketing and put them into a callback header. Once you have selected your grouping of names, you will attach an F8 message to the callback header. |
Once you have set up your message, to send the actual email, choose option B - Email Callbacks from the Processing Options menu. For what TM header: Enter the callback header number that contains the F8 message for the mass email. A response of "Y" in the next three fields determines which email addresses will receive your email. Include WEB email address: These email addresses are found on the WEB data screen from customer maintenance. Include LST email address: This email address is found on the customer name/address screen. Include ALA email address: These email addresses are on the customer alternate address screen. Email subject: Enter the subject of your email. The text entered here will be entered as the subject line on the email. Email attachment: Enter the path and file name of the file to attach (i.e. /tmp/sales.doc). |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| EASI HOB set up |
The EASI (Embellished Activewear Standards Initiative) is a method to exchange information. There are the following document types: 850 - Purchase Order 855 - Purchase Order Acknowledgement 810 - Invoice 856 - Advanced Shipping Notice 832 - Product Descriptor Database 997 - Functional Acknowledgement 852 - POS 940 - 3rd Party Direct Shipment PO Data is passed back and forth between you and your vendors using the GTIN which is assigned for each sku. The documents are set up in the Electronic Interfaced control record in the PO system. |
The 852 POS file contains the sales and availability information that is sent daily to each mill. The 832 Product Descriptor Database is a file that shows the cross reference between your part number and the mill's part number. The cross reference is the GTIN. The 850 Purchase Order is a method to send your to the mills electronically. The 856 Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) contains the quantities and inventory that you will be receiving on a truck shipment. When this file is uploaded you can pre-received all the items on the truck. When you ftp information to the mills, a 997 Functional Acknowledgement is sent back to you verifying that the mill received your document. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Interface format set up |
Description: Enter a description name of the document. Interface Type: Choose "V" for EASI standards Load Seq(0=no): you can have the system via a cron job automatically upload data to your system using a cron process. The load sequence determines the order in which the documents are processed. For example, you would want the PDD file loaded before you load an ASN (so that the system contains all the current GTIN numbers). Document Type: Tab for the different document types. Version: Enter the version number assigned by the EASI standards committee. Press ALT W to enter the directory where the files will located. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Control Record |
In the purchase order control record you will need to enter your DUNS (Duns and Bradstreet number). This number is used when sending and receiving files from your vendors. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| UCC to Vendor X-Ref |
The UCC to Vendor X-Ref file is where you will set up your mills with their DUNS number. It is also where you will find the product descriptor database. Description: Enter the name of the mill as the description. PDD Weight Factor: The mills provide you with weights for each sku. If you do NOT want to use the mills weights, enter 0.00 in this field. To use the mills weights as is enter 1.00 for the weight factor. If you want the weights to be heavier, then enter another weighting factor. Interchange Vendor: Enter the vendor number that is used in the inventory interchange file. Location: For single location facilities, enter your location number in this field. If you have more than one location, leave this field blank as long as your store number is the same number as your location number. Vendor Associated: Enter the vendor number in the A/p system to whom you will be making payments. Mill: Enter the mill designations for the UCC that you are setting up. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Location Detail |
In the location detail screen you will set up your store number that was assigned to you by the mill. |
Ship To Store id: Enter the store id assigned to you by your vendor. Location: Enter the location number that corresponds with the ship to store number. Vendor Associated: Enter the vendor number that is used in the interchange file. Bill To Account: Enter the vendor billing account number. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Loading PDD files |
You must first enter the cross reference information into the mill's site so that they can give you a PDD file. For both Gildan and Fruit you must first run a conversion prior to uploading the file into the system. 1. Open the Gildan/Fruit file in excel. 2. Delete row 1 that shows the titles of the columns. 3. Column 3 needs to be reformatted. Highlight the column and select Format >Cells. Choose number with 0 for the decimal places. 4. Save the file. File >save as gildan.csv, or fruit.csv. 5. Transfer the gildan.csv or fruit to the rs6000. Put this in the /tmp directory. 6. Go to PO, EASI Interfaces, System Management and run the program Gildan PDD/STD EASI or Fruit PDD/STD EASI. This will take the gildan.csv or fruit file and convert it to the EASI standard form and output the file in /easi/in/832_gildan.txt or /easi/in/832_fruit.txt 7. Go to PO, EASI Interfaces, Upload Files from Vendor. Print this report to disk. This will load the PDD files with the information from the spreadsheet. 8. Go to PO, EASI Interfaces, System Management, UCC to Vendor X-Reference. Go to Gildan or Fruit and press ALT P, then ALT D. Parts that are successfully cross referenced will display your part number under the Part column. Parts that could not be cross referenced will display Nothing Entered!. Press return on these parts and fill in your part number in fields #4 Part and #5 Size. 9. Once you have completed checking the parts, press ESC then ALT P to post this information to the Inventory Interchange file. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) |
When you receive an electronic ASN, transfer the file to the /easi directory then run the program Upload Files from Vendor. This will enter the ASN information into the system for you. To review the information prior to posting the information to the Purchase Order, choose ALT P (Automated Ship Notice) from the UCC to Vendor X-ref file. |
SSCC-18: The SSCC 18 number is assigned by the mill for each shipment. Bol Number: The Bill of Lading number is assigned by the mill. Store id: This defines which store/location will be updated. Format: defaults to the ASN format. Ship/promise Dates: Enter the shipping and promise dates. Carrier: Enter the carrier name. Once you have checked the data you can post the ASN to the purchase order. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| HOB flow of info |
The HOB interface has two warehouses; one in Kentucky and one in California. Every two hours we will receive a file from Hanes with the availability for each of these locations via an FTP transfer through the integrator. A cron job will process the file and update the inventory quantities for Kentucky and California A user will enter an order for inventory at one of the HOB locations. They will pick the order. The process of picking the order will create a purchase order in the PO system for the HOB order. A HOB status screen will show the HOB order with a status of Not Sent (meaning the file has not yet been sent to Hanes). |
A second cron job will run every 20 minutes or so and take the newly added purchase order and create a direct shipment purchase order document (940) in the /hanes/out directory. A third cron job will ftp the files in the /hanes/out directory and move the direct shipment purchase order document to the /hanes/done directory. The HOB status screen will now show the HOB order with a status of Sent. A fourth cron job will pick up acknowledgement files from Hanes and change the status on the order to Acknowledged (so now you know that Hanes has received the file). A fifth cron job will pick up the notification of shipment of an order and proceed to automatically invoice the order (so now the order is in the archives and no longer in the HOB Status screen). Hanes has two warehouses: Warehouse 9002 is the California warehouse & Warehouse 9001 is the Kentucky warehouse. The following need to be added to the crontab: #Po1hob creates files in /hanes9001/out and /hanes9002/out directories. #the syntax is /hanes9001~ easi sendor identification~hanes ucc number~hanes warehouse~location in VICS system 15,30 5-14 * * 1-5 dbshell -s 1 -c 1 -a PO run po1hob /hanes9001~972201311~766369~9001~6 > /dev/null 20,40 15-20 * * 1-5 dbshell -s 1 -c 1 -a PO run po1hob /hanes9001~972201311~766369~9001~6 > /dev/null 10,20,40 5-14 * * 1-5 dbshell -s 1 -c 1 -a PO run po1hob /hanes9002~972201311~766369~9002~5 > /dev/null 15,30,45 15-20 * * 1-5 dbshell -s 1 -c 1 -a PO run po1hob /hanes9002~972201311~766369~9002~5 > /dev/null #Pol846 updates the inventory quantities #the syntax is /hanes~hanes duns number 8,10,12,14,16,18 * * 1-5 dbshell -s 1 -c 1 -a PO run pol846 /hanes~90463469 >/dev/null #Pol997 is the order acknowledgement and updates order status #the syntax is /hanes~easi sendor identification 15,35,45,59 5-20 * * 1-5 dbshell -s 1 -c 1 -a PO run pol997 /hanes~972201311 > /dev/null #Polshc invoices the order #the syntax is /hanes/hanes ucc number~client id (assigned by UPS shipping facility) 20,40,59 5-20 * * 1-5 dbshell -s 1 -c 1 -a PO run polshc /hanes~766369~30034 > /dev/null #remove hanes documents after 20 days 55 23 * * 1-5 /home/met/p/vm/scripts/clearhanespo > /dev/null The following directories need to be added: /home/met/p/in/hanes9001 /home/met/p/in/hanes9001/done /home/met/p/in/hanes9001/in /home/met/p/in/hanes9001/out /home/met/p/in/hanes9001/waiting /home/met/p/in/hanes9001/work /home/met/p/in/hanes9001/sending /home/met/po/in/hanes9002 /home/met/p/in/hanes9002/done /home/met/p/in/hanes9002/in /home/met/p/in/hanes9002/out /home/met/p/in/hanes9002/waiting /home/met/p/in/hanes9002/work /home/met/p/in/hanes9002/sending /home/met/p/in/hanes /home/met/p/in/hanes/checking /home/met/p/in/hanes/done /home/met/p/in/hanes/in /home/met/p/in/hanes/out /home/met/p/in/hanes/sending /home/met/p/in/hanes/waiting /home/met/p/in/hanes/work Symbolic links need to be made for the following: Ln -s /home/met/p/in/hanes /hanes Ln -s /home/met/p/in/hanes9002 /hanes9002 Ln -s /home/met/p/in/hanes9001 /hanes9001 All the directories must have read & write permissions. Must add to /etc/environment loc#_path=/hanes9001 where the location number is the VICS location corresponding to the hanes 9001 warehouse Kentucky loc#_path=/hanes9002 where the location number is the VICS location corresponding to the hanes 9002 warehouse California |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Positive Pay |
In both the checkbook manager and a/p systems when checks are issued a file is created in the directory /checks that has all the check information. This file is then sent to your bank and the bank will only clear those checks for which they have received information on. This helps prevent fraud on your account. |
top of page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Top of Page | Newest of the NEW! | VICS Home Page | Click to Email Us! |
